Korean firms Hyundai Corporation and Yoochang have announced they will invest in restoring the Guatemalan railway linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Guatemala is in the spotlight of international investors as an alternative to the Panama Canal.

The project also includes linking the city of Tecun Uman, San Marcos, near the border with Mexico, to the port of La Union in El Salvador, said the Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre.

Both companies agreed to the purchase of the Railroad Development Corporation (RDC), owner of Guatemala Railways. The latter won the award in 1997 for 50 years to restore the railway system in the country.

Boo Jeong Chung, representative of the Korean investors, said this week that they formalized the purchase of US Company RDC, based in Pittsburgh.

The spokesman avoided details about the terms of the negotiations, but said that DS Chung, president of Yoochang, and senior executives of Hyundai Corporation, will arrive in the Guatemalan capital to meet with President Alvaro Colom.

After hearing the government’s view, they would announce details of the project.